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Anointed by the random hand of talent, Moses Taiwa Molelekwa
was born and raised in Thembisa, 40 miles from Johannesburg, where the
youngster was swaddled in a jazz blanket, raised to the sounds of Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
His grandfather Bo was a pianist and his father was nicknamed 'Monk', "as
he was the first guy in the local jazz society to understand
Thelonius. 'Monk' was determined that his son would become a
musician but as he couldn't afford a piano, he bought the boy a guitar
and packed him off on Saturday mornings to study at the Federated Union
of Black Arts Academy in Johannesburg.

"I was beginning to get into trouble, but I wasn't
that bad", he said of his early teens. "There were no recreational
facilities for young people in the township... no role models; the
crime rate keeps rising and when people earn money they become victims
and have to leave." Rescued by his passion for piano playing, Moses
declared, "There is no question that music saved my life". This love of
music was fortunately nurtured by his father, a big jazz fan and when
he finally acquired a Casio keyboard it became obvious that this was
not a passing fad, but a natural talent that needed to be explored. On
the recommendation of Director Sipho Sepamla, he went
full-time to FUBA (Federal Union of Black Arts), where his teacher,
Mandla Cebekulu, was an important influence. Perhaps more important
though was the shared record collection of his father's jazz society
associates. When he graduated with a diploma in piano studies, he
became the first recipient of FUBA's prestigious Best Student award in
1987 and by that time had made his professional debut at Jo'burg's
Jameson's club with Kelly Petlane and Glen Mafoko, as
well as having performed at premier jazz club, Kippie's. Moses' growing
reputation brought him work with South African greats such as Miriam
Makeba, Jonas Gwangwa and Thembi Mtshali and the two bands of which he
was a founding member - Brotherhood and Umbongo - took it in turns to
win the Best Jazz Group category in the 1991/92 Gilbeys Music of Africa
Competition. The theatre has long provided an outlet for musical
expression in South Africa and Moses acted as Musical Director of
several productions, including a musical entitled 'SA Love/Uthando',
directing musicians including Barney Rachabane, Sophie Mgcina and Jennifer Ferguson.
Approached by Hugh Masekala at the tender age of eighteen, his immense
potential as an artist became clear. However Moses was not over-awed by
such an invitation partly because he was barely familiar with the great
South African trumpeter's music, as it had been banned in his homeland
during apartheid. "I didn't even think, 'this is Masekela!' I just went
for it." He got the gig playing keyboards - not just acoustic piano -
in the Masekela band and worked with them for over a year. Since then,
he's toured the US with stars such as Dorothy Masuka and Julian Bahula, and last year visited London to play with classical virtuoso pianist Joanna MacGregor (June 2000).